New OJC staff members introduced

Tuesday

Sep 24, 2013 at 5:00 PM

Otero Junior College is proud to announce the addition of two new staff members.

Otero Junior College is proud to announce the addition of two new staff members.

Sierra Doherty-Cardenas of Wheat Ridge is the new assistant coach of the OJC Women's Soccer team. As assistant coach, she is responsible for assisting the head coach with all aspects of running the women's soccer program including oversight of games and practices; athlete instruction and care; paperwork; recruiting; training; and planning for team travel.

Doherty-Cardenas worked as assistant coach at Eastern New Mexico University and has coached club and high school soccer in the Denver area. She has a bachelor of environmental science degree from ENMU.

When asked why she accepted the position, Doherty-Cardenas credited the friendly and welcoming feeling at OJC. "I love the community atmosphere and I wanted to stay in Colorado where I can be fairly close to home," said Doherty-Cardenas. "Jamie Hutchison and the rest of the athletic staff are wonderful to work with. I consider myself extremely fortunate to be a part of the OJC community."

Doherty-Cardenas aspires to continue to develop as a soccer coach so she is able to give her student-athletes the best opportunity to achieve success on and off the soccer field. "I strive to make a positive impact on these young ladies' lives and to make sure they move on to suitable four-year institutions," said Doherty-Cardenas.

In her free time, Doherty-Cardenas enjoys soccer, fitness, travel and outdoor activities including snowboarding and hiking.

Kim Grimsley, La Junta, returns to OJC as Director of Instructional Initiatives. In her new role, Grimsley will be assisting the Vice President of Instruction and other Instructional Services staff with various projects. These will include the implementation of telepresence in school districts, development of post-secondary educational opportunities for area school districts, and providing new faculty and adjunct faculty instructional orientation.

Grimsley was previously employed at OJC as a business instructor for many years and as Chair of Business Technologies and Service Occupations. She has a master's degree in business education from Adams State College and a bachelor's degree in business education from the University of Northern Colorado.

"After being away from OJC for two years I realized how much I missed working in the educational field and the faculty and staff at OJC," said Grimsley. "I look forward to working with staff and faculty on new initiatives to allow OJC to continue to develop more effective learning environments as well as working in partnership with other organizations throughout the state."

Outside of work, Grimsley enjoys traveling and going on new adventures with family and friends. She and her husband, Sam, have one son.